


Dreaming of You

by enbyred



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Dreams and Nightmares, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Late Night Conversations, Nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-23
Updated: 2019-05-23
Packaged: 2020-03-13 03:25:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18932428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/enbyred/pseuds/enbyred
Summary: Rayla's been having trouble sleeping since Callum got sick from using dark magic. But so has he.





	Dreaming of You

The sound of Callum’s desperate gasps for breath were fresh in Rayla’s mind. Every time she tried to sleep, she would see flashes of him, eyes glowing green, or passed out on the cave floor, pale and writhing, calling out for help, for his parents, for Ezran, for  _ her _ . It had been several days since the dark magic incident, and while they’d moved past it and were doing just fine on their journey, it still nagged at Rayla, settling like lead in her stomach and never quiet leaving her mind.

She hadn’t admitted that seeing him like that had led to sleepless nights and excessive worry, covertly checking on him whenever he used magic. He and Zym had both noticed that something was off, but Callum stayed quiet about it, letting Zym cuddle her for comfort.

Callum and Zym had fallen asleep hours ago, and even though Callum’s furrowed eyebrows told her that he may not have been sleeping pleasantly, at least he was asleep. He needed it.

Yet Rayla still sat awake, staring up at the stars, which was admittedly better than having nightmares of his screams. If nothing else about the situation was good, she was glad to be able to hear Callum’s steady breathing. He was alive and healthy, doing better than ever. His primal magic was strong, and he had resolved never to use dark magic again. He was fine, so everything else should have been too.

Her eyes kept drifting back to him, studying his face and convincing herself that everything was okay. It was. Everything was fine. Callum was  _ fine _ . Unless he looked a little too pale. Was he usually that pale? Was he feeling okay? She couldn’t help herself from placing her hand on his forehead to see if his temperature was normal, and breathed a sigh of relief when it was.

It was  _ fine _ .

But it was obvious that she wasn’t going to be getting any sleep tonight. She flopped down on her back and glared at the sky as though it was the one keeping her awake.

Callum groaned next to her and muttered, “Rayla? Why’re you awake?”

She turned to him, saw his bleary eyes just barely open, and assured him, “Don’t worry about it, I’m fine. Go back to sleep.”

“I will as soon as you do,” he said, poking her gently in the cheek. 

Turning on her side to face him, she poked him right back in the forehead. “You need it more than I do. Don’t worry about me, you just focus on keeping your own strength up.”

With a sigh, Callum replied, “I would, but I have a feeling that sleep isn’t gonna be easy to come by tonight. Looks like it’s the same for you.” He raised his eyebrows, looking for confirmation.

Rayla nodded. “Yup.”

A beat of silence passed between them as they looked at the stars together. Part of Rayla wanted to reach out and take his hand for comfort, but the rest of her didn’t allow it. Apparently, she didn’t need to anyway.

Callum’s hand found hers and laced their fingers together as he spoke again. “I’ve been having nightmares. They’re like when I was unconscious after using dark magic. I keep encountering an evil version of myself and choosing dark magic, and it always leads to hurting you and Ez.” He covered his face with his free hand and shook his head. “Sorry. It was my fault, I shouldn’t be bugging you with this.”

She squeezed his hand. “I’ve been having them about the magic hurting  _ you _ . I can’t stop thinking about how pale you were, how close you could have been to death. If you died, Callum, I...I don’t know what I would do.” The image flooded back to her as she recalled holding him in her arms, begging him to stay with her and nearly letting everything she felt about him come tumbling out of her mouth. She took a deep, shuddering breath and shook the thought from her mind.

“I’m okay, Rayla,” Callum whispered. “We’re here together, the effects of the dark magic have worn off, and we’re doing better than ever. And we don’t have to worry about one of those incidents happening ever again, if for no other reason than that coma  _ sucked _ . Like, if that’s how Claudia feels when she uses dark magic, then I have no idea how she does it, forget about how morally wrong it is.”

Rayla chuckled and stroked the back of his hand with her thumb. It was good to hear from him that the effects were gone, but she couldn’t be certain that it was true or if he was just trying to make her feel better about it.

Something must have shown on her face, because Callum tugged at her hand and said, “Hey. It’s okay. Get some rest, I’m right here.”

“Easier said than done,” she muttered.

He rolled his eyes good-naturedly and took his hand from hers, extending his arm instead. “Come here.”

Raising an eyebrow, Rayla stared at him for a second. “You want me to do  _ what _ , now?”

“Just do it!” he insisted with a laugh. “Come on, it’s not that weird. All this bonding we’ve done, and you’re afraid of a little cuddling?”

“Only because you’re making it weird!”

Laughing harder, Callum retorted, “I am not! You’re the one who’s making it weird, I just wanted to make us both feel better!”

Zym’s head popped up and he let out a squeak that turned into a yawn. He stood and moved from between them, crawling over Rayla to sit behind her and nudge her closer to Callum.

“You too, Zym?” Rayla accused, relenting and shifting to lay her head on Callum’s shoulder. She looked up at him. “If you make me regret this, I’ll give you something to have nightmares about.”

“Yup,” Callum replied, “you’re nightmare fuel alright. My dear friend who panics whenever a baby dragon leaves her sight is definitely a terror to behold.”

She propped herself up on her elbow. “I’m an assassin, remember. Trained specifically to kill kings and idiot princes. I could end you at any time.”

Pulling her back down to rest on his shoulder, Callum confirmed, “That you are! But you haven’t killed me yet, so I think I’m safe. Now go to  _ sleep _ , Rayla.”

She huffed and settled into him, hesitating a moment before placing her hand on his chest. She wouldn’t admit it aloud, but his arm around her and her hand on his heart were significantly more comforting than watching him was. Now she could feel how strongly his heart was beating, hear his steady breaths, and hold him just as closely as she wanted to. It didn’t even matter if he could feel how hard her own heart was pounding. All that mattered was that he was there with her, strong and healthy.

When she finally drifted off to sleep, there were no nightmares. She dreamed instead of a day years in the future when she and Callum were laying in a bed together early in the morning, embracing each other the same way they were now. The light of dawn was warming them as they stirred, giving each other sleepy smiles. They kissed each other softly, as though they had kissed many times before, and when they heard the fussing of a baby, Callum slipped out of bed to tend to a little girl who had five fingers and a tiny set of horns poking through her brown hair. Rayla couldn’t help but smile as she watched them, her heart filling with joy and peace.

The morning came much too quickly, and Rayla dared not open her eyes. She was still in Callum’s arms, despite him being awake, whispering to Zym not to step on her. The feeling of warmth from her dream hadn’t left her chest, and she kept her breathing as even as she could to pretend she was still asleep and live in that fantasy just a little longer.


End file.
